Manufacturers, suppliers and service providers frequently issue discount coupons to attract and encourage potential consumers to purchase products and services (hereinafter collectively referred to as products). One objective of coupon issuance is to stimulate sales and boost revenue by drawing consumers to purchase specific products, and particularly, newly introduced products.
Conventionally, coupons can be distributed to consumers through mail, magazines, newspapers and other publications, and electronically through the Internet, and redeemed at local stores and retailers. Regardless of the delivery mechanism, a coupon traditionally contains transactional data such as product information, coupon value, expiration data, and other restrictions. These data are can be encoded in the form of a bar code that collectively identifies the coupon. However, the procedures for encoding a bar code can be difficult. Information to be printed on the Version A bar code can be divided into a number of fields such as a Number System Character, Company Prefix, Family Code, Value code and Check Digit. The Extended Bar Code (UCC/EAN-128) may consist of Number System Character of the Company Prefix, Offer Code Number, Household ID and expiration date. The layout of the fields is determined by selecting a bar code format. Once the bar code format is selected, data can be entered for each of the fields. Often the fields have input restrictions that limit the type and amount of characters that may be included in the bar code. Correct coding can be labor and cost intensive.
Errors in coding can resulting increased manufacturer costs. For example, if the family code of a bar code on a coupon is mistakenly entered with incorrect data, the manufacturer associated with the coupon can be severely penalized by the retailers. As an example, a coupon may textually specify that the coupon is “good on any Brand X Silver vitamin”, while the family bar code of the coupon is coded only for “Brand X Regular vitamin”. When the coupon is presented for “Brand X Silver vitamin”, a transaction error may be triggered which prevents the coupon from being redeemed because a qualifying product has not been purchased. This can create confusion between the consumers and the retailers, and unavoidably delays product checkout process.